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Self-Replicating Machines are the only means through which to spread through the Solar System Alex Ellery Canada Research Professor Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Carleton University Ottawa, CANADA Space Portal Commercial Space Lecture Series, 2 Jun 2021 Power of Self-Replication § Self-replication is the ONLY robust approach to space exploration § Self-replication offers exponential growth in productive capacity P= (1 + �)! where r>1 § This is a cellular approach in which each cell factory is identical § Consider launch of a single 10 tonne self-replicating factory to the Moon at a cost of $7.5 B Number of offspring Number of Population Specific per generation generations Cost ($/kg) 1 10 1024 2 7 2187 <$1000/kg 2 13 1,594,323 <$1.25/kg § Cumulative population is >1.5 x 106 within 13 generations § Initial capital cost of $7.5 B is amortised over an exponentially increasing productive capacity § For r=2 over 13 generations, specific cost to the Moon has dropped from $750,000/kg to <50 cent/kg of productive capacity § If each 10 tonne factory takes 6 months to build, we have >1.5 million factories in 6.5 years § If each of the106 factories produces 103 solar power satellites, we have109 SPS units § We could supply our global energy needs cleanly from space § SELF-REPLICATION EFFECTIVELY SIDESTEPS LAUNCH COSTS Universal Constructor ⊃ Self Replicator § John von Neumann – a sufficient (but not necessary) condition for self-replication is universal construction § Universal constructor is a kinematic machine that can manufacture any other machine including a copy of itself § UC is generalisation of the universal Turing machine § UC is idealised as a programmable “generalised” kinematic arm in a sea of parts (structured environment) § We adapt UC to unstructured environments through a suite of kinematic machines: (i) load- haul-dumpers and drills as mining robots; (ii) programmable pumps for driving unit chemical processors; (iii) mills, lathes and 3D printers for autonomous manufacture; (iv) manipulators for robotic assembly § Kinematic machines are specific kinematic configurations of electric motors § Sensorimotor control system: - motors - computational electronics - sensors Functionality Lunar Material Tensile structures Wrought iron – Aluminium Minimal Demandite Compressive structures Cast iron – Aluminium Elastic structures Steel/Al springs/flexures Silicone elastomers Thermal conductor straps Iron/Nickel/Cobalt/Aluminium Tungsten Thermal insulation Glass (silica fibre) Ceramics such as SiO2 and Al2O3 Moon has a simple geology: High thermal tolerance Tungsten, Al2O3 Thermal sources Fresnel lenses/mirrors (optical structures) pyroxene – plagioclase (anorthite) Electrical heating (iron/nickel/tungsten) – olivine - ilmenite Electrical conduction Fernico (e.g. kovar) Nickel – Aluminium Electrical insulation Glass (fused silica) Ceramics - SiO2, TiO2, Al2O3 10 basic materials required to Silicone plastic supply all full functionality to Silicon steel for motors Active electronics Kovar robotic spacecraft (satisficibility) (vacuum tubes) Nickel Tungsten Fused silica glass/ceramic Magnetic materials Co-ferrite - AlNiCo Silicon steel We require a minimal set of reagents Permalloy resources including NaCl imported Sensors and sensory transduction Resistance wire Quartz from Earth – salt contingency Selenium Optical structures Polished nickel/aluminium (mirrors) Fused silica glass (lenses/fibres, etc) Lubricants Silicone oils Water Adhesives Silicone elastomer/gels Fuels Oxygen – Hydrogen Electromagnetic launchers + solar sails 4 Self-Replication requires Closure § UC must be supplied with the appropriate resources to self-replicate: matter+energy+information § The most important constraints are closure conditions: (a) Material and parts closure – each component has a portfolio of materials, processes and machines required for its manufacture – to close the matter loop by: (i) Restricting raw material inventory to minimise mining and chemical processing cost, e.g. demandite list, industrial ecology, Metalysis FFC process (ii) Restricting parts inventory to minimise manufacturing and assembly cost, e.g. 3D printing (b) Energy closure – energy generation must exceed energy cost (energy return on investment (EROI) – to close the energy loop by: (i) Maximise use of direct environmental energy, e.g. thermal energy for chemical processing (ii) Maximising electrical energy conversion efficiency, e.g. PETE >30% (iii) Minimise energy wasted in processing waste by eliminating waste, e.g. industrial ecology (iv) Restrict all physical processes to minimise energy consumption, e.g. Metalysis FFC process, 3D printing § (c) Information closure – information required for specification does not exceed capacity to store/process specification - to close the information loop by: (i) Maximise parts re-use (exaptation) to minimise information specification, e.g. electric motors co-opted for energy storage as flywheels and vacuum tubes co-opted for energy conversion Lunar Mining § Processing of mineral in-situ resources requires mining vehicles § Kapvik is a 32 kg microrover prototype for lunar mining (i) JCB prototype with regolith scoop (ii) autonomous navigation capability using UKF implemented on two FPGAs (iii) reconfigurable chassis, e.g. elastic loop mobility system for high traction on rugged terrain (iv) sensorised chassis for online regolith characterisation (v) hybrid 4 DOF camera mast/manipulator arm (vi) pan/tilt camera at elbow with full observability of scoop (vii) abseiling capability for crater surveying Lunar Volatiles Volatile species Concentration Mass/m3 regolith (g) (ppm/μg/g) assuming 1660 kg/m3 density o § Volatiles mining by heating regolith to 700 C H 46±16 76 releases 90% of volatiles esp from smaller 3He 0.0042±0.0034 0.007 ilmenite particles (extracted magnetically): 4He 14±11 23 96% H2, <4% He, CO, CO2, CH4, N2, NH3, H2S, C 124±45 206 SO2, Ar, etc N 81±37 135 § Carbon compounds ~80-120 ppm F 70±47 116 Cl 30±20 50 § Fractional distillation for well-separated fractions (assuming STP): He (4.2 K), H2 (20 K), N2 (77 K), CO (81 K), CH4 (109 K), N2O (185 K), CO2 (194 K), H2S (213 K), NH3 (240 K), SO2 (263 K) NO2 (294 K) and H2O (373 K) § VERY VALUABLE STUFF!!!! § We should husband this stuff as we extract water ice…… Plastics/Ceramics Manufacture § Ceramics – fused silica glass – may be adopted for electrical insulation of cables § Ceramics – porcelain from fired kaolinite – may be adopted for electrical insulation of junctions § Knob-and-tube technology for electrical distribution § We adopt silicone plastics with multiple advantages over hydrocarbons (i) Si backbone minimises C resource consumption (ii) UV radiation resistant (iii) High operational temperature tolerance (350oC c.f. 120oC) (iv) it is used only sparingly for flexible wire sheathing § From syngas to polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) – simplest siloxane (Rochow process) § HCl reagent is recycled – Cl required from “salt” contingency against uncontrolled replication § Primary use is for silicone oils Iron Age Technology § Hydrogen reduction of ilmenite at ~1000oC creates oxygen, iron and rutile FeTiO3 + H2 → Fe + TiO2 + H2O and 2H2O → 2H2 + O2 o § Fe separated from TiO2 by liquation at 1600 C § Wrought iron is tough & malleable for tensile structures § Cast iron (~2-4% C + 1-2% Si) is more brittle for compressive structures (e.g. Iron Bridge for 200+y) § Tool steel (<2% C + 9-18% W) for cutting tools (eg. milling head) § Silicon (electrical) steel/ferrite (up to 3% Si and 97% Fe) for electromagnets and motor cores § Kovar (53.5% Fe, 29% Ni, 17% Co, 0.3% Mn, 0.2% Si and <0.01% C) – fernico alloy with high temperature electrical/thermal conductors 5 § Permalloy (20% Fe + 80% Ni) provides magnetic shielding with μr~10 H/m (replace 5% Ni 6 with Mo gives supermalloy with μr~10 H/m) Tunicose Ores from Meteoritic Sources § We need to source Tungsten, Nickel and Cobalt for our alloy range § Some 25% lunar impactor material survives impact at or near surface of crater (670 crater >10 km diameter) § Mascons indicate location of NiFe meteorite ores, eg. northern rim of SPA crater § NiFe meteorites dominated by kamacite/taenite (NiFe alloys) - typically contaminated witH Co § Mond (carbonyl) procEss at 40-80oC reacts impure Ni with CO and S catalyst o which is reversed at 230 C/60 bar: Ni(CO)4 ↔ Ni + 4CO § Similar carbonyl processes for Co and Fe § S catalyst recovered at 750-1100oC from troilite (FeS) in meteoritic inclusions, lunar regolith (~1%), or lunar volatiles (SO2 and H2S gases) § AlNiCo permanent magnets § Meteoritic NiFe alloys enriched in W microparticle inclusions which can be crushed and separated (W has high density of 19.3 and high melting temperature of 3422oC) Preprocessing the Natural Way o § Carbothermic reduction of anorthite (CaAl2Si2O8) at 1650 C yields Al2O3: o 4CH4 ® 4C + 8H2 (T=1400 C) o CaAl2Si2O8 + 4C → CaO + Al2O3 + 2Si + 4CO (T=1650 C) Alumina is refractory material (used in crucible linings) with physical properties exceeded only by diamond Quicklime is used as coatings for tungsten cathodes in vacuum tubes § Artificial weathering of anorthite (CaAl2Si2O8) with hot HCl yields SiO2 (artificial weathering) CaAl2Si2O8 + 8HCl + 2H2O → CaCl2 + 2AlCl3.6H2O + 2SiO2 2AlCl3.6H2O → Al2O3 + 6HCl +9H2O Silica is raw material for fused silica glass (eg. Fresnel lenses) and quartz manufacture CaCl2 electrolyte for FFC process as a byproduct § Quartz (piezoelectric) does not occur naturally on the Moon but it may be grown from silica o Melt silica